


THIRSTY

by jonginizing



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 08:46:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12602780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jonginizing/pseuds/jonginizing
Summary: When the blood-thirst meets the sweetest.





	1. Truth

Jongin flinched for the fifth time since he arrived. Perspiration trickled from the tips of his hair, but he was still deep in his sleep.

"He moved again, sir."

"Is he awake?"

"Not yet, sir," the man replied, taking a step back guiltily.

"I've told you to come and get me only when he wakes up, haven't I?" 

The living room became awkwardly silent, as if the silence from before wasn't already disturbing for everyone. Their leader leaned back to rest his head against the couch. Even though everyone's eyes were fixed on the television screen, he could see their hands fidgeting and hear their feet shuffling. They had something to say and he just needed to hear them out, but of course everyone was afraid that they might trip over the wrong wire. 

"Are you tired?" he asked his men.

"Yes, sir," one of them replied, but was nudged by another to correct himself, "I mean, it's just that, we've been watching him for over 3 hours. Shouldn't he be awake by now?"

"Yes, sir. Maybe you should wake him up instead," another added.

Their leader, who was seated comfortably on the couch, leaned forward to grab the television remote. He stood up and switched the television off, as his velvet coat slowly draped off the couch. 

"Alright then," he replied coolly and the room was filled with audible pocket sighs of relief.

He sashayed out of the living room with his head held high despite how low his heart had sunken. The walk down the corridor to the furthest and most isolated room in the house felt twice as long as it usually did; not that he ever needed to visit that room before. He never had any prisoners before Jongin, but somehow he just knew that one day, that room would be essential. He never needed that room to be soundproof and impossible to break out of more than now. 

Of course, the room was bumped with all the high-technology gadgets with buttons for all. His men had been raising the room temperature in hopes that it would wake Jongin up but all they got was a drenched Jongin instead.

Once he reached the room's thick metal door, he took a deep breath before reaching for the handle. 

"You can do this," he whispered to himself, and with a flick of his hair, he strutted in. 

As though on cue, and perhaps his presence was as overwhelming as the heat was, Jongin finally peeked open an eye. A string of groans followed, before Jongin came to realise the condition of the situation he was in. He struggled to get up with his feet and arms tied up, but the one who suffered more was the one watching his struggles behind the two-way glass mirror that separated them. 

That person was none other than Taemin. 

Just by hearing Jongin's cries, Taemin felt another spear pierce through his heart. Albeit the pain, he walked over to the long stretch of buttons laid before the glass mirror. Among the colourful buttons, his eyes were fixed on only one label: WOMAN. Once the LED light beside it lit up, he proceeded to hold down the big red button for the microphone.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that," he spoke into the mic, keeping a good distance from it. 

Hearing a woman's voice fill the room startled him, but Jongin remained frozen in an uncomfortable position. His heart was speeding fast and his thoughts were a mess. He didn't know if it was better to scream or to play dead. He started perspiring profusely, even more than he did throughout the time that he was unconscious. 

Jongin looked around. The room he was held in was compact, with no more than five furniture – a bed, wardrobe, bedside table and two chairs. The heat was bearable, but Jongin had never felt so weak. 

"Jongin-ah," the woman's voice spoke again, startling Jongin and causing him to fall off the bed. 

He resumed his attempts to break free from the ropes, even harder than before. Jongin was kicking everywhere and thrusting his arms back, but the ropes wouldn't loosen. His cries grew louder and unbearable by the minute, until he found himself next to the mirror, which he must've rolled over to. He stood up slowly, maintaining his balance on his tied feet, and he just stared at his reflection. He knew someone was on the other side of that mirror. He wasn't dumb. He just didn't know it would be his very own best friend. 

"You're there," Jongin took a shaky breath, "aren't you?"

They made eye-contact – for Taemin, at least. Even though all Jongin could see was himself, it felt like Jongin was staring deep into his eyes and it gave Taemin chills. 

"H-h-hello?" Jongin voiced again, a little frail and small.

Taemin looked away, for he couldn't stand looking at Jongin for another second. His painful cries were crippling Taemin's heart. It felt like his insides were rotting just by knowing he was the reason for Jongin's sufferings.

"Please let me go," Jongin cried, tears falling one after another.

Taemin walked over to a set of buttons on the wall and fiddled with the one controlling the room's temperature. Amid his cries, Jongin felt a sudden waft of cold air touch the bare parts of his arms. Not understanding what was happening, he could only think of the worst and his facial expression was a message enough of his thoughts. That was when he heard the woman's voice again.

"Don't worry, I just lowered the room's temperature. You're sweating."

In a split second, Jongin's feelings altered from being worried and in fear to being filled with anger and madness. 

"I didn't ask for air-conditioning," Jongin huffed, "I want to be set free!"

Then, Jongin did exactly what Taemin feared.

Jongin began knocking his head against the mirror, warily at first but progressively grew harder after each hit. His tears began dripping straight to the floor as he was faced down, containing the pain behind his twisted expression. Through it all, he just kept begging to be set free and screaming for mercy but on the other side of the glass mirror, Taemin had no such intention despite being frantic. 

"Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!" Taemin raised his voice into the mic.

Jongin stopped all his movements. The room was quiet and it was just Taemin staring at Jongin staring at his own reflection, once again. Taemin didn't know what he expected of himself upon seeing his best friend in such a state, but he was weakened at the sight of a teardrop escaping the corner of Jongin's eye. 

"You're hurting me," Jongin spoke softly, almost inaudible, as he turned around and walked away from the glass mirror.

Taemin could only swallow the bitterness of his doings. No matter how he looked at it, he could never forgive himself if Jongin gets hurt when his main objective was to keep his best friend safe from the start. His eyes followed Jongin as he walked to the opposite side of the room. Jongin was crouching, head facing the corner, and sobbing. Jongin wiped his tears on his pants, using his knees to rub his eyes and then burying his face in between them. 

Taemin grabbed a walkie-talkie from the wall and spoke into it. The next thing he knew, five men came into the room. Then, he spoke into the mic.

"I'm sending my men in to untie you so that you can sleep comfortably tonight," Jongin heard the woman speak, whose voice was creeping Jongin out the more she talked, "Don't even bother fighting against them, okay? They're twice your size, each and I don't want you to get hurt."

Jongin rolled his eyes and immediately after, three large men barged into his room. Two of them were holding a bag each and the other one had a penknife, which looked like a toothpick in his mega-sized hand. Once again, Jongin could only imagine the worst. He was so sure that they were going to stab him to death with that penknife, so he started wishing that they would kill him swiftly without having to put him through any pain. During his death wish, two of them scared him when they each grabbed his side and held him up in place. Jongin knew the other man was behind him, so he squirmed to break free from their grip, but as he was warned, they were much too strong. 

Suddenly, he felt vibrations around his wrists as though the rope was being tampered with, and a second later, his wrists felt naked. The same thing happened with his ankles and he spent some time appreciating his wrists and ankles being free from the scruffy and itchy rope. Jongin was too immersed in massaging his wrists that he didn't even realise that the men had left the room until he heard a loud thud of the door closing, followed by a few clicks which sounded like locks.

"There's food and some clothes in those bags on your bed," the woman said.

"That's not my bed," Jongin huffed, glaring at the bags on the bed, "None of this is mine."

"It will be yours now."

Jongin was far too tired to argue and he definitely didn't want to break down again. He rolled his eyes before walking over to the bed. He untied the first bag and took some clothes out. They were all extra-large plain tees in different colours and black sweatpants. There was also a box of briefs and a few towels. Jongin stuffed them all back into the bag and placed it on the floor. He then looked into the other bag because there was no denying that he was hungry. He couldn't even remember what he had for his last meal. Jongin took out a fast-food meal box and it had fried chicken, biscuits, coleslaw salad and French fries. 

"I got you your favourite. If you want some rice with it, I can get you some," she added.

Jongin shook his head, but he just stared at the meal box before him. Taemin waited for Jongin to take a bite but Jongin remained frozen.

"Is everything alright?" Taemin asked.

"No," Jongin replied coldly, then turned to face the glass mirror and asked, "Why are you even being nice to me?"

It stung that that question was even proposed to him in the first place, but it was the price of his charade.

"If I wanted you dead, you would have been five hours ago," Taemin replied, "Eat up before your food gets cold. Then, get comfortable for bed. I'm doing lights out at 10:30PM."

Jongin looked up at the clock which showed 9:30PM, then took a savoury bite of his fried chicken. He never once imagined he'd be kidnapped but more so, he never imagined a kidnapper to be as nice as his.

Eventually it was five minutes to lights out and Taemin had wished Jongin a good night. 

To Taemin, it was the first page of his best-selling novel. 

To Jongin, it was just a second into a never-ending nightmare.


	2. Here

Jongin was woken by chattering noises but the sudden invasion of bright light shook him to consciousness. With squinting eyes and a stiff neck, he glanced over at the clock which showed the hours of the next morning.

"It's 7:15AM," Jongin spoke thoughtlessly.

"Yes, I'm glad that you could read the time on the clock," the same woman's voice replied through the speakers, which helped Jongin regain his memories of the night before.

His head began to hurt as it was too much. Everything that happened from him having fun at his friend's party to him waking up hours later in a room that wasn't his, and even down to the faceless woman who had been talking to him; it was all coming to him in a flood. His sight became blurry all too sudden, but Taemin couldn't tell that. Instead, all he saw from the other side of the glass wall was Jongin spacing out. Taemin called for Jongin twice before he got Jongin's attention.

"There's a chute by the wardrobe on your right, your breakfast is there. Eat up before it gets cold," Taemin told him.

Jongin took a quick glance at the chute and rolled his eyes. On the other side of the glass mirror, Taemin smiled. He continued watching Jongin without speaking into the mic, and after Jongin was convinced that no one was watching him, he stood up and walked over to the chute.

"Same old Jongin," Taemin chuckled.

Jongin pulled out a tray of his breakfast from the chute, as Taemin had said it contained, but he continued to look further into the chute.

"Jongin-ah," Taemin couldn't help but make a comment, "Don't even think about it, alright. First of all, it's locked from the outside, but even if it wasn't, you couldn't possibly fit through it."

"I won't know unless I try," Jongin shot back as he brought the tray back to his bed.

"You'll hurt yourself."

"Why should it matter? You're going to do it anyway."

"What? No! I would never hurt you, Jongin," Taemin replied, baffled at Jongin's words.

"Then, why the hell am I here? What do you want from me?" Jongin shouted.

Silence was what Jongin had in return. Taemin froze as he stood alone in the cold room, staring at Jongin who had his back facing him. Taemin was in such a daze that he could hear his heartbeat louder than his own thoughts.

"I want you to be safe," Taemin replied in earnest, but of course, Jongin couldn't tell.

Jongin scoffed upon hearing the irony of his kidnapper uttering the word "safe". He began shaking his head in disbelief.

"Safe?! Safe. Sure, I'm safe," Jongin laughed hysterically, "Why don't you just leave me alone so I could have a safe breakfast in this safe room? Which, by the way, the mirror in the toilet is broken; so much for being safe."

Taemin turned off his mic without another word. He kept hoping that Jongin would eventually understand why Taemin had to do what he did. He had no other way of explaining his actions other than for it to keep Jongin safe. Otherwise, Jongin would know too much and if he did, he might have to die.

"Please bear with me, Jongin-ah," Taemin whispered to nobody as he placed his palm against the glass mirror.

Taemin left after he made sure that Jongin had a bit of his breakfast. He had a long list of errands to run, which he would have sent his people to do had it not been an errand to visit important families for business enquiries. It was the time of the year for his kind. So, before Taemin left, he passed on a detailed schedule for Jongin to his men, which included rotational guards and people to keep him company.

"I'm putting you in-charge of his entertainment," Taemin delegated duties to his men.

"How do I.. um, entertain.. him?" the small man questioned.

"Figure that out on your own. Just make sure he doesn't throw a fit, cry, sleep too much or hurt himself," Taemin responded, and after much hesitation, he added, "If you want to enter his room, make sure there are guards right outside the door so that he won't escape. You're the only one I'm letting in, so if anything happens to him, you know I'll be finding you. Do you understand?"

The man nodded feverishly. He had just been recruited a week ago, yet he was tasked with great responsibility. He wasn't sure if he'd make it through the day alive by the time that Taemin returns back home. Even if he did, there was a 50% chance that he'd die in Taemin's hands.

Three hours later, Jongin heard a heavily autotuned voice through the speakers telling him that it was time for tea, followed by a loud sound of a lock from the chute. He walked over and found a tray of various snacks. There was even three different kinds of drinks — coffee, tea and pumpkin juice. Jongin looked up at the mirror with a puzzled expression, awaiting a familiar voice through the speakers. However, the familiar woman's voice was not what he heard.

"We didn't kno–," a low voice spoke, before sounding much like the autotuned voice from before, "–oh shit, wait–, oh okay. As I was saying, we didn't know which drink you'd prefer. Boss didn't indicate it in the list."

"Where's boss?" Jongin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Out," the same low voice spoke again, before a higher pitched voice butted in.

"You have to press the autotune before you turn the mic on, you idiot!" the person shouted.

Jongin sat by the side of his bed with wide eyes as he just stared at his reflection. He awkwardly picked up the cup of tea from the tray and took a sip. As he finished his tea slowly in silence, he assumed that the two or more men had left the room and he was back to being alone. So, he tore open a wrapper and began munching on a cracker.

"What's your hobby?" the same high pitched voice from before filled the room, shocking Jongin and causing him to choke on dry crumbs.

The voice grew frantic through the speakers as he begged for Jongin not to die, which amused him because that was all he expected of himself ever since he ended up there. Jongin reached out for the packet of pumpkin juice and stuck the straw in, dragging a long sip down his throat. After both sides of the room had calmed down, Jongin finally spoke.

"Why do you ask?" Jongin frowned, not liking the thought of whoever standing at the other side of the glass mirror being nice to him, both the boss and the boss's people.

"I, uh, kinda need help," the voice replied, "You see, I was supposed to keep you entertained but there's not much that I can offer you other than small talk. Perhaps if you want to play cards or board games, we could but two players can get boring and the whole point of me keeping you entertained is so that you won't get bored–, oh my God! I don't know what to do!"

"Could you just play some music?" Jongin asked, not wanting the man to keep going on about how bad he was at doing his job and how he was going to get fired tonight.

Then, the song Jongin requested began to fill the room.

그날의 악몽이 떠올라  
geunare agmongi tteoolla  
이벌만을 절대 아닐 거라고  
ibeolmaneul jeoldae anil georago  
희미해져 가는 너  
himihaejyeo ganeun neo

"Don't know what you want..," Jongin sang.

Jongin shouted "I HATE YOU" whenever it came in the song, focusing on all the anger that he had inside him. After the song ended, he requested for it to be kept on replay. Jongin laid around in bed, constantly chewing on biscuits and chips. The song went on for about five more times before it was interrupted by a ringtone. The man apologised to Jongin and answered the call, switching the mic off as he did so.

Taemin had called in to check on things, specifically Jongin. He was glad to hear that Jongin hadn't thrown a fit or hurt himself while he was gone. When the man on the other line mentioned that he played music for Jongin, Taemin grew keen as to what songs Jongin had requested for.

"Going Crazy by EXO," the man replied.

Taemin nodded in acknowledgement as though the man could see him through the call. His mind wandered off to visualise a bubbly Jongin, singing along to his favourite song without a care in the world. Taemin gazed into space as Jongin's laughter rang in his ears like an alarm.

"Tell him that I miss him," Taemin said before hanging up, only realising and regretting what he said seconds later.

"Boss told me to tell you that he misses you," the man spoke into the mic, "Y'know, honestly, I've never thought of him as someone who likes men."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jongin snapped, frowning at the mirror before him.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I–I, I didn't mean to offend you. It's totally okay for men to like men. There's nothing wrong with it–," the man reasoned.

"He thinks that I like men? Wait, his boss is a guy?!" Jongin thought.

"–It's just that, boss is usually very manly, so I pictured him with a nice lady... but, I don't mean you! You're very manly as well! Manly men don't have to be with nice ladies, even though they attract the ladies the most... Manly men can be with other manly men. I'm just learning that now," he continued.

"He thinks that I have a thing for his boss..? I don't even know her.. or him.. whoever and whatever they are," Jongin's mind wondered.

"Forget that I said anything, I'm so sorry. Anyway, what do you want to do now?" the man then asked Jongin.

Suddenly, Jongin brought up the board games again to kill his boredom. About five minutes later, Jongin heard noises from behind the metal door and watched it open to reveal two large men — much like the same men who came into his room to untie him on the first day. They stood still at the door, shoulder-to-shoulder. He waited to see which of the two was the man that he had been talking to, but his thoughts were proven wrong when another guy pushed his way through the two large men and stumbled forward.

After being bombarded by the sights of large men throughout his stay, Jongin found it refreshing to see someone that he didn't feel intimidated by. Jongin eyed the small guy before him in his all-black attire, holding a Monopoly game board box bigger than his whole abdomen. Jongin confirmed that he was the same guy that he had been talking to when the guy introduced himself.

"My name's Kim, by the way. Where shall we play this?" he said.

Jongin flapped open an extra blanket and laid it on the floor. He then grabbed a pillow and got on the floor on his belly, laying his chest against the pillow for support and comfort. Kim did the same and began setting up the game board. After a few rounds into the game and their random small talks, Jongin decided to get Kim to spill some information.

"You mention that you might get fired tonight, right?" Jongin asked and when Kim nodded in response, he asked, "Why?"

"Only if anything bad happens to you, because I'm kind of in-charge of making sure that that doesn't happen. I heard that Boss is very meticulous when if comes to his prized possessions. They say that one time, Boss was trying to save a child but someone made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and she died from her allergy reaction." Kim said, moving his piece a whole round on the board.

"How am I his prized possession?" Jongin asked as he rolled his dice.

"Don't you know? You're a treat! I don't know how much of a treat you'll be but you're definitely here for the festival next week."

"Ah, yes..," Jongin frowned, not understanding what Kim meant but he decided to play along with it, "Speaking of the festival, I'm not sure what I should wear or do..."

"Aww, that is so cute. Don't worry, Boss will help you with that! By the way, how did you two meet?" Kim asked, shocking Jongin with the sudden question.

"It was a long time ago, back in school," Jongin monotonously said, hoping that Kim didn't notice his darting eyes.

Jongin decided to drop his wish to find out about the mysterious "boss" who was having him locked up and the unknown festival of which he seemed to play an important part in. The very little information that Kim had beared him with was already hurting his mind enough. They continued talking about music, school and life instead.

"I was at my friend's birthday party before they–, before I got here," Jongin answered Kim's question about what he was doing before he got taken, "Honestly, I don't remember being taken at all. I was having fun, maybe too much fun... Perhaps, that's why I don't remember anything. Next thing I know, I woke up here, tied and sweating."

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Kim placed his hand on Jongin's, "You'll see your friend again soon. In fact, you'll see all your friends again soon."

"I doubt I'll even make it out of here alive," Jongin mumbled, but Kim caught on.

"What are you talking about! Everyone makes it out of here alive. Boss might be a drainer but he's a lover too."

Just then, a fumbling noise came from the metal chute. Jongin checked the insides and found a bowl of pasta with popcorn chicken sides. Jongin requested for Kim to have lunch with him and offered to share his serving, but Kim refused as he could get in trouble for consuming a hostage's meal. Instead, he got someone to send another meal for him through the chute.

Jongin and Kim had their lunch together, accompanied by more small talks in between as they learned more about each other. Kim had a dark past of when he was bullied for his hairstyle, and Jongin couldn't stop laughing when they were on that subject. Jongin didn't have much to share about himself because he didn't find his life interesting. Instead, he found himself talking about his family and friends.

"Sehun's just like that. He was the birthday boy at the party that I was at the last time. I do the craziest things with him because he somehow always talks me into doing things that I hate or am scared of. He's my partner in crime," Jongin spoke of his friend with a smile, "Then, there's Taemin, my ride or die. We weren't the longest of friends but we're tighter than anyone else."

"You guys met in school, right?" Kim interrupted.

"How did you know?" Jongin looked over at Kim, perplexed.

"What do you mean–," Kim giggled, "You said it yourself, silly!"

"I did?" Jongin asked himself, "Anyway, we met in school during a dance audition. I thought he was one of the cool kids, so I went to sit with him. Now that I'm his best friend, I can safely say that I am definitely the cooler kid."

Kim laughed at Jongin's comment about Taemin. While the both of them were busy sharing their life stories, Taemin stood on the opposite side of the glass mirror, listening to their every word.

"I miss that guy..," Jongin said softly, then gasped as he recalled something, "–oh my God, I remember now! I was waiting for him at the party! We were supposed to go together and hangout afterwards because we haven't seen each other in months, but he was running late, so I went first and.. oh my God. I hope he doesn't think that I ditched him. Oh no, Taemin's going to hate me. Ugh!" Jongin grumbled, going on even more about how petty and high on sulking Taemin could get.

Kim sat through Jongin's whole monologue looking at him with questions on his face. However, before he could ask Jongin any questions, metal noises came from the door as it was pushed open, revealing the same men who stood there earlier.

"Boss wants to see you," one of them said.

Kim and Jongin shared a curious look. Unlike Jongin, Kim knew that Taemin wasn't supposed to return until after dinner, therefore, his puzzled expression. Jongin, however, was just shocked that his companionship was leaving so soon. Kim got up and walked out of the room, leaving the board game with Jongin. As soon as he saw a tall figure by the glass mirror, he gave a little bow. The metal door was shut immediately after and that was when Taemin started speaking.

"I sure hope you know what you've done wrong," Taemin's words felt like icicles — sharp and stingingly cold.

"W-Wrong, s-sir? W-Wha–..," Kim stammered, unable to comprehend the purpose of the meeting.

Kim didn't think that he had done anything wrong. He was allowed to enter Jongin's room and provide him the company that he needed, as Taemin had personally told him to. Jongin wasn't sleeping too much, nor did he throw a fit, cry or hurt himself. Kim was incredibly positive that he had followed Taemin's rules and...

"You almost let slip my identity, didn't you?" Taemin looked over at Kim, who had his head hung low upon the proposed question, which annoyed Taemin even more, causing him to scream right in Kim's face, "DIDN'T YOU?!"

Kim was quivering in fear. He didn't dare to look up and make an eye-contact with Taemin. He was too busy praying to every God that he knew. Taemin looked down, literally, at the frail man who seemed to grow smaller every second. Kim was practically kneeling on the floor, if Taemin hadn't known better of him. Only the large bodyguards who stood by Jongin's door could hear the silence in the room, while it was subjective for the rest — Taemin's head filled with his pent up frustration at how careless Kim was and Kim's head filled with begs and pleads. The atmosphere grew intense the longer the room remained silent, until Jongin broke it with a question.

"Kim?"

"You're lucky that your father is my step-uncle," Taemin huffed under his breath as he grabbed Kim's shirt and pulled him up to stand, "Get out."

"Of the room?" Kim asked, timidly.

"No, the house, you idiot," Taemin replied sarcastically, pushing Kim towards the door, "Yes, get out of the room!"

"You're not firing me?"

"Just be thankful that I'm not going to kill you," Taemin snarled.

After Kim left, Taemin dismissed the two other men in the room, so he could have some time alone with Jongin. Even though he only spent a couple of hours out, it felt like an eternity, especially in the scorching heat of noon. Taemin was finally comfortable being home with Jongin.

"Kim, you there?" Jongin voiced out again.

Taemin walked over to the panel, selected his sound effect and turned the microphone on.

"Kim is off-duty now," Taemin replied.

"You..," Jongin muttered, realising that Kim's boss was speaking and started freaking out for Kim, "Is he fired?! What did you do to him?!"

"Woah, relax," Taemin laughed, "I'm starting to wish that you cared about me like that."

"Why should I? You kidnapped me."

"To protect you," Taemin reminded him, then smirked as he continued, "Also, Kim works for me. Wouldn't that make him an accomplice?"

"Oh, now you're finally admitting that you've committed a crime?" Jongin rolled his eyes as he shifted the pillows back on the bed and laid down, leaving the board game in the same mess since Kim left.

"Anyway, Kim is fine and I didn't fire him," Taemin decided to bring it back to avoid the topic of his kidnapping crime, "Why are you so concerned, anyway? You have feelings for him, or something?"

Taemin shook his head when he heard the thin layer of jealousy in his voice. He was quick to blow up on Kim for almost letting his identity slip to Jongin when the poor boy had no idea that he wasn't supposed to, yet he was slipping himself. Taemin cringed at himself.

"I want to sleep, leave me alone," Jongin sighed, turning over to face his back to the glass mirror. 

"It's only 3:51PM," Taemin replied.

"Yes, I'm glad that you could read the time on the clock," Jongin said as he pulled the covers over him.

Taemin didn't bother replying to him, despite wanting to keep the conversation going. He was upset that Jongin had just cut the conversation dry, but it saddened him even more that Jongin's cold shoulder was probably because of Kim. Taemin's mind buzzed at the thought of Jongin getting along too well with Kim.

Honestly, Taemin didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know if what he was doing was right or not. There were two possible outcomes of his actions and it frustrated him that he couldn't tell which it would be.

Taemin stared at Jongin, who didn't move an inch. Taemin thought that Jongin only pretended to sleep to shut him out, but his steady breathing was convincing enough. Just as Taemin was about leave, the door swung open to reveal Kim, who only angered Taemin even more.

Kim was fidgety and he looked as if he had something urgent to do or say, but Taemin was not having it. He sent Kim away again after telling him that he was banned from entering Jongin's room without his permission.

"B-but, sir..."

"No 'but's, Kim. Go," Taemin demanded.

Taemin took one last look at Jongin before leaving.

"You drive me crazy, Jongin-ah," he sighed heavily.


	3. Intuition

Jongin didn't intend to fall asleep that afternoon after he told Taemin to leave him alone, but after staying frozen for what felt like an hour, his thoughts grew to become really loud and oppressing.

Jongin thought about the stories he had told Kim earlier that day — about his family and friends. He really missed all of them, even though he had only been away for days. His tears collected at the corners of his eyes, dripping down sideways when he blinked. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hold back his sobs and hiccups. Eventually, he stopped caring whether or not there was someone on the other side of the glass mirror, watching him as he cried. Eventually, he gave in to his emotions and let it all out, because in the end, only his pillow would know the truth. 

Later that night, Jongin woke up to find the lights turned off. He kicked the blankets off him and sat up, looking up at the clock to see that it was past lights out. Jongin's nose picked up a lingering aroma of spices and he remembered that he hadn't had dinner yet. 

Taemin entered the room and saw Jongin stuffing his face with chicken drumlets under dim light. Taemin didn't want to make his presence known to Jongin at first, but he felt bad for letting Jongin eat in the dark. Taemin increased the brightness of the light slowly, watching Jongin as he carefully turned on the knob, not wanting to shock him with sudden brightness. Jongin looked up and stared at his reflection that gradually grew brighter and clearer. He waited to hear someone speak, silently hoping that Kim's voice would flow through the speakers, but nothing. 

"Who's there?"

"It's me," the familiar female voice said. 

"Can you stop using that sound effect thingy? It's creepy now that I know you're not a woman," Jongin replied, licking leftover sauces from his fingertips. 

"I didn't mean to lie to you like that," Taemin smiled when he saw that Jongin had finished his meal for the first time, "I was just protecting my identity."

"There's nothing to protect, dude. I know who you are," Jongin huffed in annoyance as he left to wash his hands. 

However, on the other side of the glass mirror, Taemin took a seat and began bobbing his legs without even realising. If Jongin could see him, he would have mocked the worry that was evident on Taemin's face. Heck, Taemin knew that if Jongin knew that it was Taemin all along, Jongin would have thrown a fit. Taemin couldn't stand imagining what it would be like once Jongin knew the identity of his kidnapper, but disclosing himself was something he had to eventually do. 

When Jongin returned from the washroom, Taemin sighed, willing to accept the turn of tables even if it were to flip towards him. 

"Do you?" Taemin simply asked, keeping his eyes shut tight in fear of Jongin's reaction. 

"You're one of those guys who wants to take over my Dad's business, right?"

"Y-wait, what?"

"Well, joke's on you because Dad's out of town trying to branch out for stronger bonds and he probably won't be back for a year or two. Plus, he never cared about me other than dropping a load of cash every month, so why not we settle this right now — how much money do you need? I'll give you 6 month's worth of allowance, I don't care, just let me go–," Jongin went on until the same female voice came through the speakers, cutting him off. 

"I don't want your money," Taemin interrupted him.

"It's the same thing," Jongin rolled his eyes, wondering why his kidnapper was being so difficult, "My money, my Dad's money; it's the same money."

"I don't want money at all, Jongin," Taemin stared at Jongin in disbelief that he would lower his own worth to a ransom.

"Then, what do you want?" Jongin snapped, growing impatient. 

"I can't tell you, not yet."

"Really? I suppose you can't tell me anything about the festival next week, huh?" Jongin scoffed. 

Taemin was taken aback. He didn't think Jongin knew about the festival. At the back of his mind, he made a mental note to give Kim a piece of his mind. Taemin feared wondering what else Jongin had found out from Kim earlier that day. 

"Let's do this. I'll let you ask me anything, and I mean anything at all, and I will answer them wherever appropriate because there are still some things that I can't tell you yet."

"Why can't you just tell me all the things that you can tell me?"

"I only want to tell you things that you want to know."

"But, I want to know everything."

"I can't tell you everything."

"Okay, fine! I get it," Jongin grunted as he laid back on his bed, "..but before that, can you dim the lights down? Oh, and can you please not use that woman's voice sound effect thingy? Please, it's creeping me out."

"I don't know about that," Taemin contemplated, dreading the thought of turning the voice effect off. 

"It's not like I could identify who you are just by hearing your voice. I'm not Soundcloud," Jongin rolled his eyes, "Unless, of course, if you're a celebrity or like, my Mum.. I'd definitely recognise that voice from miles away."

Taemin was conflicted. For once since he got here, Jongin hadn't raised his voice or put up an attitude. For once, Taemin felt like he could finally have a proper, calm and civilised conversation with his best friend — even if the latter wasn't aware of it. He momentarily fought against himself, weighing the pros and cons and clashing them against one another. Eventually, he took a deep breath and hovered a finger on top of the button. 

"It's off now," an unfamiliar, lightly honeyed voice of a man filled the room. 

Taemin watched as Jongin's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing his voice. Of course, Taemin kept his extreme cool when he spoke into the mic. He suppressed a deepened voice compared to his usual tone, but the look on Jongin's face worried him. He feared that Jongin could pin-point something, anything at all.

However, Jongin wasn't anywhere close to figuring Taemin out. 

"You don't sound like you're 40," Jongin finally said. 

"That's because I'm not," Taemin sighed in relief and added, "I'm in my 20's."

"What?! I'm in my 20's! How are you the boss if you're in your 20's?"

"Well, let's just say it's more of a hierarchical status than a simple job status," Taemin replied. 

"Pfft, sure, keep beating around the bush. So, I can ask anything and you'll answer whatever you can, right?" 

"Exactly."

"That excludes your personal information, permission to let me go, and the reason you kidnapped me, right?" Jongin added sarcastically, which Taemin rolled his eyes at. 

"Hey, I did tell you why you're here," Taemin reasoned. 

"Mmhm, keeping me safe, sure. I want to know more about the festival. If I'm going to be such an important role in this festival, I might as well know what I'll be doing there," Jongin paused when a thought passed by his head, "Please don't tell me... It's not a sacrificial festival right? I'm not up for sacrifice, right?!"

"What? No!" Taemin covered the microphone with his hands until he stopped laughing, "I'm not crazy enough to give you up for sacrifice."

"Hmm, so what is the festival?"

"It's an annual family event. Every year, we celebrate our lives.. with a drink. If the heavens are on your side, the stars will align and indicate your calling."

"What calling?"

"A calling into a new world, like.. like a coming-of-age calling," Taemin replied. 

"So, where do I stand in all of this?"

"You'll be by my side, quite literally," Taemin chuckled as he added, "It's like going to a party with a date, y'know."

"I'm your date?"

"I don't know, will you be?"

"What?"

"What? Nothing," Taemin buried his face in his hands at his slip up, "Anyway, what else would you like to know?"

Jongin stopped shaking his legs as he pondered on a question that he had been dying to have an answer to. It wasn't as if he didn't get an answer to it yet, because he did from Kim, but it was too good to be true. He didn't just need the truth, he also needed reassurance. 

"Will I die?"

"Will you what?"

"Will I die? After the festival and at the end of everything," Jongin paused to take a deep breath before shakily continuing, "–..will I die?"

Jongin was left in silence for a little more than a few seconds before he began crying. He mistook the silence as agreement to his question, when in reality, Taemin was torn apart upon seeing his best friend broken, weak and in tears. 

"No, Jongin, you won't die. I will never, ever let that happen to you," Taemin spoke softly.

"I hope I won't regret trusting you," Jongin sniffled, wiping his tears against his pillow as he turned on his side to face the glass mirror, "I don't even know why I'm trusting you when you kidnapped me."

"Some things are just unexplainable," Taemin mumbled, "Can I give you a hug?"

"You're coming in here?"

"If you'll let me."

"So, you won't tell me your name for days but you'll uncover your face because I cried and you want to cheer me up?" Jongin chuckled. 

"No, it's more like I won't tell you my name for days but I'll enter your room with the lights off so you couldn't see my face at all while I cheer you up," Taemin replied, with a smug grin. 

"Ugh," Jongin grunted, "How will I know that you're not going to stab me with a knife?"

"I guess you will just have to wait and see," Taemin voiced out as he lowered the lights in Jongin's room to absolute darkness, even the lights in his washroom. 

Taemin stood behind the door and pulled it open with all his might. Jongin sat up on his bed, staring at where the noise came from. His heartbeat picked up speed and soon, was racing at the sight of a creak of bright rays shining through the door. Jongin held his breath for what felt like forever as the door was pulled open, revealing a silhouette of a slim man dressed in what seemed like a hoodie and a tight pair of jeans. The man took a step into the room and paused.

Taemin looked around as he felt weird. His senses were tingling and something was off. He couldn't tell what was bothering him at first, but once he took a deep breath, he felt it sting his nose. Realisation hit him immediately, causing him to look at Jongin with immense worry. 

"Jongin-ah, are you hurt?" Taemin asked, to which Jongin simply shook his head to, but Taemin wasn't taking that as an answer as he was so sure of what it was, "Did you hurt yourself somewhere? Did you get cuts from those ropes from the other day? Are you bleeding?"

Taemin was frantic. He could smell blood. 

Back when he was younger, he went insane at the smell of blood. Taemin would literally jump around in excitement whenever he sniffed even if it was just a drop of blood. As he grew older, it lost its speciality. Smelling blood was just like walking past a fast food restaurant after having lunch somewhere else. Sure, Taemin still sensed it whenever it's present — frozen or diluted, a drop or in pools — but it never made him crave for it desperately like before. 

Craving for Jongin's blood was the last thing he ever wanted to do in his life, but he would be lying if he said that Jongin's blood didn't smell like sweet cinnamon. As much as he hated to admit it, he was curious as to what Jongin tasted like, even more so then after having a whiff of it. 

"I'm not bleeding, but I did get a cut, though," Jongin replied, "–from the mirror."

"The mirror?"

"Yeah, the mirror in the washroom. I told you it was broken."

"You did? Wait, did you break it?"

"No! It was already broken and I placed my hand on the sharp edge by accident."

Without another word, Taemin pulled Jongin from his bed and into a hug. He wrapped his arms around Jongin and held him tight. Jongin hesitated at first, but eventually snaked his arms around the other as he melted into Taemin's body warmth. 

"Do you trust me now?" Taemin asked, still forcing a deeper voice as he spoke. 

"I don't know," Jongin shrugged out of Taemin's grip, which made Taemin laugh. 

"Get some sleep, Jongin. We'll talk more in the morning, okay?" Taemin said. 

Jongin nodded in response and laid back down, sliding his feet under the blanket. Taemin pulled the blanket to cover Jongin and tuck him in but as he took a step forward, his feet came in contact with an odd bulge on the floor. Immediately then, a sudden brightness shone upon him from the floor. In a split second, Taemin left the room in fear that Jongin might have caught a glimpse of his face from that sudden light. 

Jongin was too occupied in getting comfortable that he didn't even realise Taemin's episode with the unknown light. The next thing Jongin knew, the door was shut and a dim light was shining upon the ceiling. He turned to his side and was blinded by the source, in which he reached out and grabbed. 

It was a phone. 

"Hey, I think you dropped your phone," Jongin said, changing his mind after he looked at the phone, "Wait, I think this is Kim's."

However, Jongin only got silence in return. He adjusted the brightness on Kim's phone and clicked the play button. 

차 오는 안개처럼 밀려와  
cha oneun angaecheoreom millyeowa  
조여 오는 숨 it's killing me  
joyeo oneun sum it's killing me  
덧나 버린 상척가  
deosna beorin sangcheokga  
갚어지잖아 자꾸 아려 와  
gipeojijanha jakku aryeo wa

Taemin watched as Jongin hummed along to the song. He thought that Jongin would have tried to make a call back home or even the police, but Taemin knew that there was no reception in Jongin's room. He had it built that way for extreme protection. However, he was still amazed that Jongin hadn't made a move of such. It was as though Jongin was okay with being there. 

Taemin spent the rest of the night on his bed feeling conflicted. He was disappointed with Kim for almost letting slip of his identity, but he was thankful that he had gotten a nice conversation with Jongin from it. He was scared of showing himself to Jongin, but he went into the latter's room and held his best friend in his embrace like it was any other day. Taemin didn't know if he should be angry, upset, or if he should just push his feelings away and keep them locked up. His worries ate him up from within and every time that he was reminded of the upcoming festival, he wished for death instead of having to face Jongin. If only it was that easy. 

The Sun rose the following morning and Taemin hadn't slept a blink. He tossed and turned in his bed before kicking his blanket off of him. He didn't bother catching up on his sleep even though he had the day off. He wanted to see Jongin. 

Jongin was sleeping soundly when Taemin entered. He decided to just wait for Jongin to wake up on his own. Taemin watched Jongin's steady breathing in his curled body posture, breathing along in sync. 

Just then, Taemin turned his head towards the door when he heard the door knob turning. The door opened to reveal Kim, who held a tray of food which seemed to be Jongin's breakfast. Kim stopped in his tracks upon making eye contact with Taemin. He was about to dash out of the room when Taemin stopped him. 

"Don't you dare leave," Taemin gritted his teeth. 

"I'm sorry, sir," Kim bowed, shaking in fear. 

Taemin instructed Kim to put the tray down because of the boy's extensive shivering. He didn't think he'd have that much effect on Kim. All his life, Taemin had always been nice to his men. However, of course, Kim should be afraid because Taemin had the right to be angry. He did in fact step on the line and perhaps, even beyond. 

"Didn't I tell you not to come here again?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Is that Jongin's breakfast?"

"Yes, s-sir."

"His breakfast is supposed to be in the chute. I don't recall giving orders for someone to personally give Jongin his breakfast," Taemin sighed, "So, why exactly are you here?"

"I-I.. I was–..," Kim stammered.

"Do you like him?"

"What?" Kim's head shot up and his eyes met with Taemin's, who was standing before him. 

"Do you like him? You seem to want to spend a lot of time with him," Taemin's eyebrows furrowed as he asked. 

"No, sir, no, of course not," Kim replied, shaking his head. 

"Good," Taemin muttered, silently sighing in relief.

"I just.. I need something from him," Kim added, causing Taemin to turn and look at him. 

"I sure hope you're talking about your phone that you carelessly left in his room," Taemin glared him dead in his eyes, "Y'know, because of your phone, Jongin could have seen me! He could have found out who I am!"

Kim kneeled and clasped his hands together, uttering apologies over and over again. He decided against questioning what Taemin said, knowing that he had gotten himself into enough trouble as it was. Taemin walked away from Kim, quickly entering Jongin's room to get the phone and back out. He handed the phone to Kim and told him to leave, feeling tired from the lack of sleep and wasting his very little energy left on letting his anger out on Kim. 

Not wanting to fall asleep, Taemin asked for an energy drink and soon after, one of his men came in the room with a cold Red Bull and a cup of ice. He took a sip of it and immediately remembered how much he hated drinking energy drinks because of how ridiculously sweet it was. Thinking that he could solve Taemin's problem, Taemin buzzed for Kim to report to the room. 

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Taemin spoke softly to Kim when he noticed the latter's trembling hands, "I need to stay awake for a couple more hours but this is too sweet for me. Do you have any tips?"

"Um, go for a jog?" Kim suggested.

"A jog? Under the Sun? Me?" Taemin rubbed his right eye as it began to tear up from laughing. 

"You're right, sorry," Kim chuckled nervously.

"There must be something that you youngsters do to keep yourselves awake. Well, I know that I'm not that old compared to you," Taemin rolled his eyes and scoffed a laugh, "–but I never needed to stay up for more than I should, so..."

"Oh, my friends and I liked to mix alcohol with sodas on our nights in! Maybe you could try that, sir. I think there's still a few cans of beer in the fridge."

"Hmm, but I don't really like beer..," Taemin replied, scrunching his nose at the thought of it. 

"That's exactly the trick, sir! So, don't like beer because it's too..?" 

"Bitter," Taemin pouted. 

"It's too bitter, and that Red Bull is too sweet. You put them together and it'll balance out!" Kim explained, but when Taemin squinted his eyes at him, he added enthusiastically, "Trust me, sir. I'll go get the beer now!"

Kim returned with a can of beer and an extra cup and began mixing the drinks, carefully adding the two drinks bit by bit. After a few taste tests, he poured some of his concoction into Taemin's cup and handed it over to the latter. 

Taemin warily took a sip of his cup and widened his eyes. 

"It's not bad!" he exclaimed, downing the remaining liquids in one gulp. 

Taemin requested for Kim to stay with him to share the tray of breakfast that Kim brought earlier as well as the well mixed Red Bull and beer. The two of them ate in silence, sharing a nice ham and cheese sandwich, until Kim decided to speak up once he finished his slice. 

"Sir, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what?" Taemin asked in return. 

"For the festival, you're taking Jongin, right?" Kim asked and earned a nod from Taemin in response, and continued, "Then, will he also be your mate?"

Taemin's eyebrows furrowed at the sudden question. He turned to face Kim, who was staring at his lap the whole time. Taemin couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with emotions in a strike. 

"Y'know, I'm really starting to think that you're growing onto him," Taemin joked, however not tickling Kim's funny bone the slightest, so he sighed and responded, "I really hope he'd be."

"Why didn't you tell him who you are?"

"Because he doesn't know what I am."

Minutes turned into hours and Kim was needed back home, so Taemin let him leave. Not long after Kim left, Jongin woke up from his slumber. 

Taemin loved Jongin's massive bed hair and the slight swell that his eyes had every time he woke up. He remembered the first time he saw the natural Jongin during a school camp a couple of years ago. Jongin mumbled to himself half-awake about how hungry and sleepy he was and for some reason, Taemin felt something. It was as though he saw himself in Jongin, but at the same time, he didn't — and he loved that. So, that very day, he spent the whole time staring at Jongin and if he wasn't doing so, he was busy looking for Jongin. That was the day when Taemin was completely swept off his feet by his own best friend, causing him to swoon over the younger one for years after. 

"I'm so hungry," Jongin mumbled, and Taemin wouldn't have understood if he hadn't experience half-awake Jongin hundreds of times over the past few years. 

It was a little past noon and Taemin still hadn't said a word to Jongin, making Jongin unaware of his presence. Jongin had showered, had his breakfast and afternoon tea snacks at the same time, and was just about to set his blanket on the floor when a voice broke the silence in his room. 

"Morning, Jongin-ah."

"Oh, morning," Jongin replied, a shocked expression evident on his face as he was still getting used to hearing a male voice through the speakers, "Have you been here long?"

"No," Taemin lied, "I just arrived."

"Oh.. Hey, about last night..," Jongin began, but before he could continue, Taemin had cut him to it. 

"Can I come in to your room again?"

Jongin didn't expect that at all. He was still recovering from the flood of events from the night before — how he felt oddly safe being trapped, how he was beginning to put even if it was just a drop of his trust, and how he was submitting himself in general. It was unlike himself, but then again, he didn't feel like himself ever since he woke up in that room tied up on the first day. 

Neither did Taemin feel like himself in that moment. 

When Jongin gave Taemin his consent, the younger heard the door unlocking and his eyes almost fell out of his head. 

"Wait, aren't you going to turn off the lights?" Jongin raised his voice a little, worried for what may come before him. 

"There's no need for that after what happened last night. You trust me now, don't you?" 

Jongin nodded in response and the door began to creak open slowly. His mind worked in a dash — thoughts after thoughts, after thoughts. 

What if he was a murderer? No, his kidnapper had been too kind to him since the beginning. 

What if he was a creepy, old man? No, he met his kidnapper the night before and if he remembered clearly, the man didn't have a heavy beard of a beer belly like most creepy, old men did. 

What if he was–

The door opened fully and Jongin couldn't believe his eyes. 

"Taemin?"

"Hey, Jongin," Taemin said, a faint smile on his lips. 

"You.. What are you doing here?"

"Jongin-ah."

"Why are you here?"

"Jongin-ah, it's me."

"Y-you?"


End file.
